Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment, as examples. Semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers, and semiconductive layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon.
Dozens or hundreds of integrated circuits are typically manufactured on a single semiconductor wafer. The individual die are singulated by sawing the integrated circuits along a scribe line. The individual die are then packaged, either separately or in a multi-chip module or other type of packaging, for example.
A problem that can occur in integrated circuits is that when the die are singulated, the material layers can crack proximate the scribe line, damaging the integrated circuits and leading to device failures. The cracks can disrupt conductive lines, for example, rendering the circuits inoperable. The cracks can also allow moisture and other contaminants to enter into the integrated circuit, causing corrosion, for example.
Thus, what are needed in the art are improved method of preventing cracks during the singulation process of semiconductor devices.